From the New York Times Magazine: It is noteworthy how the medical field is so dominated by Cartesian Mind-Body Dualism! Overcoming the belief that the mind is separate from the body is a primary task of today’s intellectual class. The experiments highlighted in this article involved putting 75 year olds in an artificial environment replicating the 1950s and 1970s. All participants ended up behaving...

Excellent discussion of the influence of Scalia on the growth of the idea of originalism, a concept Ed Meese promoted in the 1980s. Main idea: the notion may be in the service of a need for certitude than rigorous jurisprudence. Link below.
From the review. By JEFF SHESOL JULY 2, 2014
“More than any individual decision or dissent, the theory of “originalism” is likely to be his lasting mark....

Since in my teens, I have observed Western thinkers and American as well arguing that free will did not exist and that life had no meaning. What struck me most was not the argument, but the judgment these individuals so often made towards the argument. There was often a sense of glee or elation that towards the claim that there was no meaningful freedom.
From the article:
“Aristotle’s...

It has been a fad of the deepest sort – a philosophical fad no less – for a bit more than a century now: trying to explain consciousness in terms of physical causes. The thing that has always annoyed me about this is that those who engage in this theorizing are bent on stressing that our theories about the world and our lives are not “objective”. The problem is that they use...

One of the philosophers who gave philosophic voice to my “sense” of God in the universe as well as my general romanticism/idealism was G. W. Leibniz, the German philosopher from the 1600s. In 1698 he wrote a text titled “The Monadology”. A “monad” for Leibniz is a term he gave for the “parts” of the universe as reflecting the entirety of the universe in them, e.g. God. This sensibility...

Terence Hoyt earned an MA in Economics from Fordham University in 1984, and a PhD in Philosophy fromTulane University in 2000. Between 1993 and 2012, I lived in New Orleans. Earlier on, I lived in Paris and Berlin for one year each. In 2012, after teaching philosophy for 15 years I returned to school to earn an MSW and then returned to upstate New York where I grew up.
My hope is for this site to increase understanding of the American political-economic system. I believe that the brighest among us do not adequately understand or appreciate American civilization. Too many among us take "the system" for granted, focus on a particular "cause" and then ignore what would keep our political-economy running well. I take the position that this problem needs to be viewed as a crisis of philosophy. It was good political philosophy that was responsible for our system and it is dysfunctional political philosophy that influences many activists to take stances undermine our economic as well as moral-spiritual well being. As of January 2017, we are in a crisis involving an unholy alliance between philosophical extremism and the usual suspects: the few who would manipulate the many to gain more wealth, power and privilege. With Plato, I believe that unless sober philosopher-types get involved in the daily affairs of public life, there will be no end to troubles. It is time for public intellectuals as well as academics in the humanities and social sciences to go back to the cave!

Seeking financial assistance for book editor

I am currently in the process of completing a book on the American political project I have been working on for six years. This book will be the culmination of years of studying, researching and thinking about what has made the America system so successful in enabling citizens to live peaceful and prosperous lives. The key to understanding this success is simple: harnessing the natural motives of four types of human beings. My goal is to educate public intellectuals, educators, and activists. I am asking for help paying for an editor for this book. I estimate the cost to be around $5,000. You can donate with the Pay Pal button below. If you would like to talk with me personally, please email me at "terencehoyt@gmail.com". I have posted the first sections of the book on the "Book Project" tab.